Fresh Pico de Gallo Salsa!

[Coupon_Queen]

I did not follow a recipe, however, salsa is very easy and I just threw this together. Prep takes about 30 minutes. If you plan on having it with dinner, make it during the day so you aren't overwhelmed at dinnertime, and also so the flavors have a chance to meld. On a scale of 1-10 the heat is about a zero to 1. lol. We'll see if the heat increases over the next few hours while it sits in the fridge. You are going to want to use a very sharp paring knife, mine was dull and a bit frustrating.


3 medium ripe tomatoes
1 med. jalapeno pepper
half of a medium-large red onion
fresh cilantro
1 lime
salt, pepper

PREP:
TOMATOES: Remove the top thingy. Cut into fourths. Using your knife, deseed the tomato (Cut out the watery flesh and seeds and discard). Dice very small. Think of the canned petite diced tomatoes, that small.
JALAPENO: Wear plastic gloves if you desire. Chop off the top stem part, then cut in half lengthwise. Cut out the seeds and white-ish flesh and discard. Cut into very thin strips, almost hair thin. As thin as you can. Then mince those strips, think of the jarred fine minced garlic.
RED ONION: Dice very small, almost 1/4 inch peices. You don't want big chunks of anything as you're eating small bites on chips.
CILANTRO: Rinse a small handful of stalks. Strip the leaves off from the stems and discard the stems. I tried using a chopper but it didnt work, maybe you have a better one than I have. Otherwise chop or mince the cilantro leaves as best you can.
LIME: Mine produced very little juice as it was probably past due. Cut in half and squeeze the juice, into the bowl of everything. Maybe 1 tbsp was all I got. 2 would be good.

Mix all the ingredients, I did them in the order above. Then added the salt and pepper. I tasted absolutely zero heat from the jalapeno. I had 5-6 bits on my chip and tasted nothing. Maybe my pepper was dull. Test the heat as you go by adding more or less jalapeno if you wish. Or use a hotter pepper if you want heat. I have mine chilling in the fridge for a few hours until dinner, to let the flavors meld. Yeilds 2.5 cups.

[almadee]

I make it exactly the same except for I like it hot so I add alot more jalapenos, for my bbq's I add a big can of rinsed black beans, make fresh tortilla chips and it makes the best salsa for a party, sometimes I add a can of corn or fresh if I have, sooooo good!!!!

[Coupon_Queen]

I am dying to try just fresh sweet corn shaved off the cob, with cilantro and red onion, a la Chipotle style!!! Also want to try their cilantro lime rice, just squeeze fresh lime and add chopped cilantro to steamed white rice. YUM. I have always hated cilantro but am getting more friendly with it. lol